August 26, 2016

This was the second of my RAFM Martian Legions. After I painted the first, I decided to check my unpainted figures to see what more I had. I was sure I had a legion and a half unpainted.

I first checked my painted figures. To my surprise I found a legion-and-a-half painted, far more than expected. Not well painted, I really hated them. They were converted to different weapon styles, and painted as individuals. They just didn’t look good.

I went to my unpainted pile, and lo and behold, there was still a legion-and-a-half in my unpainted pile. At some point I had picked up another Legion, giving me a total of four.

So I stripped the painted figures, re-armed them to fit in the Legion, and started painting them.

I wanted an elite-in-their-own-opinion unit, dressed in black and red.I was trying for a dramatic look. I’m not sure how successful it was.

The officer has had his sword replaced with a wire blade, shaped and flattened. The standard bearer is the Martian from the Adventurers pack.

The halberdier has a glaive, made from wire.He was one of the figures converted to wield two swords

The big sword also has a wire blade. I went with a darker steel for their armour, with a darker black wash. (A darker wash, not a darker black, duh)

This halberdier has a cutting spear, also made from wire. This unit seems heavy on figures retrofitted back from my conversions.

The figures look better after retrofitting than they did when converted, and I am overall quite pleased with the results. The red and black looks sort-of-dramatic, and the unit looks good en masse.

August 19, 2016

This was the first of my RAFM Martian Legions: It was inspired by a unit Skrapwelder had painted. Before that I wasn’t really a big fan of these figures.

My first attempt at painting the figures wasn’t a success: I painted them as individuals for roleplaying, and modified their weapons, etc. I didn’t like how they turned out, even though it was my fault.

This group I painted as a unit.

They are in fact a new pack from RAFM, and I was a bit worried when I ordered them. The figures are over 25 years old, and they could be using some pretty awful moulds. But no worry, the moulds were great, and the figures were as crisp and clean as they were in 1989.

The set has 19 figures, plus a commander on a Gashant, divided about half-and-half between shooters and cutters. Since I am using TSATF for my big battles, I needed 20 figures per unit.

Thankfully I had plenty of the Martian adventurer from their personalities pack, and I made him into a standard bearer. (His sword blade has been replaced with one made of wire.)

The big swords and shield gunners protect the command element and are a hard striking force.

The wings of the unit are made of pole weapons paired with muskets.

I tried to give the halbardiers better hair, because I wasn’t a fan of the mohawk they had. Better or not, it’s different.

I really like the look as a unit, and I decided to see what more I had in storage…..

August 12, 2016

Years ago, I sculpted a bunch of figures for a company that shall remain nameless. They were state of the art for 1975, but it hadn’t been 1975 for many years.

I did however sculpt an Askari miniature, and kept a mould of him: Based on a Belgian Askari, he was pretty generic, so I have painted units of them in blue, khaki, and white, and he serves in many of my armies without raising eyebrows.

I recently found a TSATF unit’s worth in a box, based and primed, so I painted them as yet another bunch of Belgians.

The command figures are random figures from my Victorian spares. I think the Officer is from (long gone) ItalWars, and the NCO from Warrior Miniatures.

My Askari is not so bad: If I could only sculpt hands, feet, faces, and bodies, he’d be great!

August 5, 2016

Nothing much to add: It’s a bunch of Phagon Battle Clones from Moonraker Miniatures. I’m a big fan of the range (and the Phagons themselves.) They are a joy to paint, and paint up so very well.

I’m using them as proxies for Chigg troops from ‘Space: Above and Beyond.’ They don’t really look a lot like the Chiggs except for being aliens in armour, but they look good, and that’s more important.

The bodies are dark gunmetal, washed with black, and lightly highlighted with steel. The bronze weapons and copper trim make them quite dazzling in daylight, I wish the photos showed it better.

Their eyes are painted gold, with a translucent layer of red over them: I was hoping for an amazing effect, or depth, but it just looks red.

Like the Chiggs, they have troopers with heavy blades instead of bayonets. Very cool.